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Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (1874–1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a Nobel Prize-winning writer, and an artist. Winston Churchill in The Man With the Iron Heart Despite leading his country to victory in World War II, Winston Churchill lost the office of Prime Minister to Clement Attlee by a landslide in 1945.The Man With the Iron Heart, pg. 56. In 1947, after the German Freedom Front successfully destroyed St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, Churchill was able to regain some political traction, charging the Attlee government with failing to protect the country.Ibid., pg. 324. Winston Churchill in Worldwar in World War II with Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt]] Following the arrival of the Race's Conquest Fleet in 1942, Winston Churchill led Britain through an uphill fight against the Race. While he was able to insure the United Kingdom's sovereignty, he was unable to protect the entirety of its empire. A pragmatist, Churchill was an early advocate of uniting all of the beligerents in the late Second World War against their new alien foe. He hosted the first two Big Five meetings in London with representatives of Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan. During the first meeting, Churchill and U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull informed the others present that their countries were already involved in a joint project to build an explosive-metal bomb. In the Balance, pgs. 220-227 During the second meeting in 1943, Churchill strongly advocated that the alliance continue on, even after the Race was defeated or at least pushed back, as the Colonization Fleet was expected to arrive in the 1960s.Tilting the Balance, pgs. 120-125. Despite the risk of a Race attack, Churchill continued to tour the country throughout 1943, visiting locations such as the Bruntingthorpe Aerodome. During this visit (which he made while riding a bicycle), Churchill was disappointed, although not surprised, to learn that current human science and technology would not be able to duplicate the Race's radar and killercraft technology for the foreseeable future.Ibid., pgs. 252-257. Later in 1943, the Race launched an invasion of the British Isles.Upsetting the Balance, pg. 110. Churchill issued an ultimatum: the Race had two days to evacuate Britain, or they would be exposed to a type of warfare they had not yet seen.Ibid., pg. 145 Fleetlord Atvar believed Churchill was referring to atomic weapons, and continued the attack. Instead, Churchill ordered the use of poison gas.Ibid. pgs. 162-163.Completely unprepared, the Race retreated when the casualties grew too high. With the fighting reaching a stalemate, Atvar called for a cease-fire and a meeting in Cairo with the major human powers. Churchill sent Anthony Eden, although as the U.K. did not have atomic weapons, Eden was there only informally.Striking the Balance, pg. 373. Eden, who would eventually succeed Churchill as Prime Minister''Aftershocks, pg. 301, ensured Britain's survival as an independent nation, though Churchill was forced to abandon claims to all the colonies of the British Empire ''Striking the Balance, pg. 375.except CanadaIbid., pg. 397 and New Zealand (which had been too small for the Race to bother with).See Colonization generally. In later years, the Race recalled Churchill's stubborness with horror.Second Contact, pg. 206. Winston Churchill in "News From the Front" Prime Minister Winston Churchill faced sharp criticism from the British press for his handling of World War II. British radio described Churchill's assent as a "right-wing coup".See, e.g., Atlantis and Other Places, pg. 99. His critics were particularly disgusted with Churchill's refusal to accept the sensible peace proposed by Germany early in the war.Ibid., pgs. 99-100. Winston Churchill in In the Presence of Mine Enemies Winston Churchill (1874- c. 1941) led Britain in a last desperate attempt to fight off the invading German forces during the Second World War. They failed, and Churchill was executed.In the Presence of Mine Enemies, pg. 65. In 2011, a musical about a theater owner who booked a terrible play about Churchill and Joseph Stalin became a smash hit.Ibid., pg. 139. Winston Churchill in The War That Came Early Winston Churchill's (1874-July, 1940) charismatic attacks on Neville Chamberlain gained him attention during the early days of the Second World War. Even after a joint British-French offensive stopped the German drive on Paris in Spring, 1939, Churchill remained critical of Chamberlain.West and East, pg. 223. Despite this criticism, Chamberlain appointed Churchill Minister of War in December, 1939.Ibid., pg. 378. Churchill held the position into 1940, frequently giving fiery orations and generally keeping the spirit and the resolve of the country up during these difficult times.The Big Switch, pg. 170. However, in the Spring of 1940, Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland, where he was found by Sgt. Alistair Walsh. Walsh took Hess to the appropriate authorities. Germany called for a truce with Britain and France, and Hess began negotiations with the Chamberlain government for a new alliance among Britain, France, and Germany against the Soviet Union.Ibid., pg. 150-51. Churchill strongly and publically opposed this course of action,Ibid., pg. 197. and soon after he was hit and killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street in London in July.Ibid., pg. 214. He received a hero's funeral, which simply confirmed for many that he'd been murdered.Ibid., pg. 234. Walsh, with whom Churchill had visited shortly before his death,Ibid,. pg 173-74. grew disgusted with the change in alliances, and quickly concluded that some part of the government had been responsible for Churchill's death. He resigned from the army and made common cause with a group of British MPs, led by Ronald Cartland, who'd been a Churchill ally.Ibid., pg. 341. After the 1941 British Military Coup, the government opened a new inquiry into Churchill's death.Ibid., pg. 187. Winston Churchill in "Joe Steele" Prime Minister Winston Churchill was not pleased with having to ally himself with Leon Trotsky's Soviet Union and Joe Steele's United States against Adolf Hitler. He did so nonetheless, viewing Steele and Trotsky as the lesser evils. Winston Churchill in Southern Victory A right-wing member of Britain's Conservative Party, Winston Churchill was chosen in 1932 as that party's leader to prevent Conservative voters from defecting to Oswald Mosley's Silver Shirts.The Victorious Opposition, pg. 413. With Mosley as his war minister, Prime Minister Churchill led Britain into the Second Great War, with devestating results. Churchill supported the Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War. British and French forces helped the Nationalists to a surprise victory over the German-backed Monarchists.Ibid. On the strength of this, Churchill was able to pass legislation for conscription,Ibid. and supported French demands for a plebiscite in Alsace and Lorraine.Ibid., pg. 412. Churchill cooperated with President Jake Featherston of the Confederate States, King Charles XI of France, and Tsar Mikhail II of Russia to restore Entente nations to positions of military strength. With the death of German Kaiser Wilhelm in 1941, these rulers launched coordinated assaults on the Central Powers.Ibid., pgs. 606. Churchill violated the neutrality of the Netherlands,Return Engagement, pg. 299 Norway,Ibid. and IrelandIbid., pg. 86. in 1941, invading all three countries and driving each to join the Central Powers openly. Despite the diplomatic costs of such a belligerent course, the British did attain their short-term strategic goals in two of the three invasions, at least initially. German forces defeated the British army in Norway. Churchill did not trust his allies and refused to share jet technology and research on the superbomb with most of them. He and Featherston cooperated in a mission to take BermudaIbid. pg 95 from the United States, but Britain ultimately occupied Bermuda alone for much of the war. In 1943, Churchill took advantage of the Royal Navy's defeat of the High Seas Fleet to begin large-scale operations against the U.S. Navy in the North Atlantic. This proved unwise, as his navy was soundly defeated in the Battle of the North Atlantic and at Bermuda. The US Navy then began supporting the Irish resistance movement. British fortunes suffered elsewhere that year when they were betrayed by Japan, which occupied Malaya;In at the Death, pg. 299. and when Central Powers forces began driving the British out of German and Dutch territory. Through all these setbacks, Churchill, who had by now become the dominant personality throughout the Entente nations of Western Europe, steadfastly refused to concede that British fortunes were suffering. Though Churchill was able to strike at Germany in 1944 with the destruction of Hamburg''Ibid., pg. 345. via the superbomb, Germany struck right back with three superbombs against London, Norwich, and Brighton.Ibid., pg. 363. The retaliatory attack promised by Churchill failed, with Germany intercepting the second British superbomb over Belgium.Ibid., pg. 365. As a result, Churchill was ousted as Prime Minister in a non-confidence vote, and his government fell.Ibid. pg. 367. A caretaker government was formed under Horace Wilson, who then asked Germany for an armistice.Ibid., pg. 368. Before his fall, Churchill relented on his refusal to share technology with his allies, sharing Britain's research on the superbomb with the Confederate States. As a result, the C.S. was the first country to use a superbomb in North America, although it benefited neither the C.S. nor Britain in the long run.Ibid., pgs. 141.143. 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